Aug 09
12
Flowers For Health And Food
It is not only through its beauty that people appreciate flowers. Their healing or therapeutic potentials have long been discovered and utilized by shamans, witchdoctors, medicine men, potion makers and herbalists.
Egyptians in their baths to beautify their skin and hair used rose petals with milk and honey. Hawaiians use extracts from plumeria, hibiscus mixed with a coconut oil for their shampoo and hair conditioner.
Europeans during to scent ages made sachets, pomanders, potpourris to scent their laundry and rooms, and to freshen themselves up. The French particularly, developed lilacs, ilang-ilang (would you believe?), and orange blossoms.
Designers have given flowers a great part in women’s (as well as men’s) fashion. Textile designs have captured these beautiful blooms in print, embroidery, latticework, knits, painting, etc. jewellers crafted gold, silver, platinum and other metals into pins, brooches, pendants, rings earrings, bracelets and necklaces shaped like flowers. Some even gold-plated real orchids and roses
Banquets and buffet tables are not the only places one can see decorated with flowers. Even dishes garnished with flowers of fruits and vegetables carved into floral shapes. Gourmets and chefs have included flowers and flower parts as ingredients of appetizers, salads, main dishes, deserts and drinks.
The most widely used roses. They can be made into salads, tea, cocktail drinks, sometimes and candies. Sampaguita and other jasmines can flavor tea and cold drinks and are delicious in salads.
Saffron pollen is used by the Spaniards of their paella. Violet, orange blooms and cherry blossoms are made into candies and confections to decorate cakes. The Japanese tempura now includes dendrobium flowers for the main ingredient. Begonia, hibiscus and ixora (santan) are now part of the chicken and fishes.
Modern medicine cannot deny that flowers have healing as well as curative values. In fact many of our modern medication have flower extracts as components or part of the ingredients. Sampaguita has its antiseptic value. The flowers and leaves can control over secretion of the mammary glands. These can soothe tense or tired nerves through tea decoration.
Boiled santan flower can lower body temperature in fever. Banana flower tea is good for diarrhea and other stomach ailments chrysanthemum tea expels coldness in our body. Bees collect flower nectar and turn it into honey, the “golden liquid” that has many cures as discovered by ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese and Indians.